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Week 4: Essay-

(Punctuation Symbol, source: New Punctuation Mark)

Name: The Sarcastrophe

Usage: This new punctuation mark has been a long time coming. It would be used to designate whenever someone is attempting to be sarcastic or facetious. It would be implemented in the same way as quotation marks. The symbol would "bookend" whatever statement was made, indicating that it was intended to be sarcastic. It could also be used in conjunction with quotation marks to indicate that a character in a story is speaking sarcastically. This punctuation serves to replicate the change in speaking tone that occurs whenever someone is being sarcastic.

Advantage: I believe that each and every one of us is sarcastic every now and then. I know that I am sarcastic all the time. I've also been in situations where I have been unable to accurately portray my sarcasm over text or in writing. This inhibits by ability to communicate, because I always have to be conscious of whether someone would be able to tell if I was being sarcastic. This new punctuation mark, the "sarcastrophe," would effectively eliminate any of the ambiguity about sarcasm over text messages or in writing. Clearly it would not be used in most kinds of scholarly writing, instead it would be used more colloquially. The only downside I foresee is that definitely showing when you are being sarcastic could potentially take part of the fun of being sarcastic away. Sometimes someone not realizing you are being sarcastic is the funniest part about whatever you said. Regardless, I believe this punctuation mark is a necessary addition to our existing list of punctuation.

Examples:

¤Wow man, you're the best basketball player I've ever seen.¤

¤I honestly dream about being you one day when I grow up.¤

¤That's the best idea I've ever heard!¤

¤You've been watching Netflix all day? It must have been extremely productive.¤ 

Week 4: Storytelling- Sinbad's Final Charge

            "Sinbad, you've been summoned by the Caliph."

            "What could he possibly want with me? He has never asked for me in this manner before," Sinbad thought to himself nervously. Still it was his duty, so he would do whatever the Caliph asked of him.

            Putting on his nicest clothes, he followed the servant who had summoned him to the chamber of the Caliph. It's grandeur was intimidating. Gems glittered and gold shone from the decadent lamps that lined the sides of the Caliph's meeting hall. A beautifully embroidered rug led to the platform where the Caliph himself sat. The platform was raised four feet off the ground, and the Caliph sat upon a golden throne, a fabulous gift from a King across the sea years ago. Now Sinbad had been here once before, but it was no less awe-inspiring than the first time beheld it.

            Saluting as was customary, Sinbad addressed the Caliph, "Your majesty, I am your humble and willing servant. I will do anything and everything that you ask. Give me my task and it will be done as best I can."

            Laughing, the Caliph stood up from his throne and gave his charge to Sinbad. "Sinbad, my friend you are too formal," his voice booming from his place of power. "I ask little more than you have already done. I would send you as my emissary to the King of Serendib. I would answer his message in kind, and would be most pleased if you would bear my gifts to him."

            As flashbacks of his horrible experiences raced through his mind, he struggled to find the words to respond to the task before him. "I would do all that you ask sire, but please, I pray, ask me not to do this. I have taken a vow to never leave Bagdad again. My voyages upon the open sea have nearly been the death of me no less than six times!" Sinbad then told the Caliph of all his voyages, and his near escapes from certain death.

            Sinbad paid close attention to the Caliph as he recounted his story. "Surely my stories will win his favor, and he will let this task pass from me. Though my heart still longs for the sea, my body and mind know better. It would be better if I never were to sail again. He must allow me to remain here with my health, my family and my fortune!"

            Sinbad would not get his wish. The King was not laughing anymore, seeing that his authority was being challenged.

            "Though your stories trouble me greatly, I do not see any great danger in the task before you. The seventh voyage of Sinbad the sailor will be his greatest. My honor and dignity demand that you do this for me!"

            "Of course your majesty, I will obey all that you command " Sinbad said with his eyes downcast.

            The Caliph, upon getting his way, brightened again. "Gods be with you Sinbad! May the sea bring you quickly there and back again! The last voyage of Sinbad the sailor!"

            As Sinbad left the Caliph's meeting room, he thought to himself, "I certainly pray that this is not the last voyage of Sinbad. I don't know how much luck that poor sailor has left. Who knows if he will return safely home to his family. To the sea once more, and for the last time, I go..."

(The Caravan of Sinbad's Seventh Voyage, Source: Wikipedia)

Author's Note-

This story is a re-telling of Sinbad being ordered to go on his Seventh and Last Voyage. He is charged by his ruler to take a gift to another King. At this point, Sinbad has sworn to never sail again, so he is dismayed at the thought of going on another voyage, so I wanted to imagine what would be going through his mind during his meeting with the Caliph.

Bibliography-

Sinbad: Seventh and Last Voyage

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments

Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford

1898

Week 4: Reading Diary- Sinbad

These are my thoughts on The Voyages of Sinbad....

First Voyage:

First of all, this storytelling style is much different than my other units. I like that Sinbad is telling his story firsthand, by telling to poor man also named Sinbad, because you get to see his emotion and reactions to his situations. Then, it is really bad luck that he mistook a whale for an island and was left by his friends, but it is great luck that he drifted to another inhabited island.

First Voyage (cont.):

I'm sure that ancient sailors would have led pretty interesting lives. They would be the ones to tell and listen to stories from across the world at the ports they come to, just like Sinbad. King Mihrage does a good job of looking after Sinbad, until his old companions show up. But was it all a mirage, like the King's name would suggest?

Second Voyage:

This guy has some horrible luck! After being abandoned again though, he finds a massive egg belonging to a massive bird, the roc. This bird carries him to a strange island full of diamonds and huge snakes. I wonder how he gets out of trouble this time?

Second Voyage (cont.):

So he ends up tying a piece of meat to his back, then an eagle grabs him and drops him in its eerie, where he is found by another group of merchants? And along the way he picks up some massive diamonds? Then on the return journey he sees the roc carry off a rhino and an elephant? These stories are ridiculous!

Third Voyage:

At least Sinbad doesn't get abandoned this time. Instead, he and his companions get marooned on an island full of red-haired dwarves, who steal their ship. Then, the find their way into the castle of a one-eyed, black monster, who roasts their captain on a spit before eating him.

Third Voyage (cont.):

Blinding the monster is, I would say, the first heroic thing Sinbad does. However, his bold plan to escape on rafts is undone when many other monsters appear and destroy them with large stones. Of course though, he makes it out alive, only to wash up on an island inhabited by a large snake.

Third Voyage (end):

These stories certainly all follow the same-ish pattern. Sinbad is again rescued by a boat that knows him previously, only thinking he was dead. Then he reveals himself to be alive. Also, I noticed that most of his stories have no survivors, other than himself, to verify his claims.

Fourth Voyage:

Same old, same old. Sinbad gets stuck on an island full of black cannibals, only to escape and be rescued. Again he is taken to the city of a king. There he makes the important men saddles, which they had never seen, and for which he is richly rewarded.

Fourth Voyage (cont.):

The community Sinbad has found has an extremely bizarre law: when one spouse dies, the other is buried with, even though they are alive. Unfortunately for Sinbad, his new found wife dies, and he is lowered into a pit with only seven loaves of break and a pitcher of water to comfort him.

Fourth Voyage (end):

In order to survive his confinement, Sinbad begins killing the living person who is lowered into the pit. Then he takes their bread and water in order to survive. Finally, after some time, he follows some animal through a crack in the rock out to the sea. Again, he is picked up by a passing ship and returned to his hometown.

Fifth Voyage:

There is certainly a recurring theme of Sinbad being discontent with the safe life at his home, which leads him on another voyage, but he always comes to regret his decision. I wonder what the deal is with the "old man" who is riding him like a horse?

Fifth Voyage (cont.):

Sinbad isn't your typical hero. He isn't remarkably strong or brave or any other stereotypical hero things. However he is very, very lucky, and a little bit cunning. He gets the old man drunk enough to release him, and then he earns his way back home by collecting coconuts from monkeys.

Sixth Voyage:

He never learns! But I finally realized what his heroic traits are: persistence and hopefulness. He never gives up on a situation, no matter how bad it looks. That's why he builds the raft that carries him through the mysterious river.

Sixth Voyage (cont.):

Another motif, Sinbad always seems to find himself in the favor of the king. This time, Sinbad finds himself, or so he claims, in the land of paradise that Adam was banished from. After some time there, he asks to leave and the king grants his request.

Sixth Voyage (end):

So the King of the Indies sends Sinbad as a messenger to his own King. Sinbad bears incredible gifts to his King, and the King asks him if this other King exaggerates his wealth. Sinbad then verifies the grandeur of that King's wealth and retires.

Seventh and Last Voyage:

After vowing to never leave, the Caliph orders Sinbad to return the favor of the King of the Indies. All goes well, until the return trip. Then Sinbad is taken by pirates and sold as a slave to a rich merchant, where he is ordered to kill an elephant.

Seventh and Last Voyage (cont.):

Tired of Sinbad killing their own, the elephants lead him to their burial ground, because they know that ivory is all that he was after. So, the merchant sets him free and allows him to return home. Finally, Sinbad is done with his voyages, and lives happily at home.

Week 3: Storytelling- Ease of reading

Who would have ever thought that all the punctuation and grammar rules that we all learned in lower school would actually be so important? Periods, commas, capitalization and spaces between letters make all the difference in the world. Yet, some of them are more important, or make it easier to read, than others. I read twelve jokes, and by far the most difficult ones to read were the ones without spaces between the words, but why is this?

Without the clear distinction between words, I had to work a lot harder to determine when certain words ended and other words began. This slowed me down considerably. Interestingly, capitalization made little difference so long as it was all lower-case or all upper-case. However, when upper-case letters were used to make the beginning of a sentence apparent, the difference was significant.

After spaces between words, the next most important piece of writing "technology" was definitely punctuation: periods and commas. These devices help give the reading a sense of flow and rhythm, providing natural stopping points and pauses that are essential for ease of reading. Again, however, these periods and commas offer little help without the blessed spaces between words that we all take for granted.

All of these writing devices are tools that we all, at least until we try to read without them, take for granted. So how did the originators of written language go so long without something as basic as spaces between words. How could a language as sophisticated as Latin have been read without punctuation? Obviously they didn't know any better, but still, you would think that they would've come up with these devices so much sooner.

(Example of Ancient Latin, Wikipedia)

            thiswasanextremelyinterestingandhelpfulwaytorecognizetheimportanceandusefullnessofpunctuationlikethesayinggoesyouneverknowhowgoodyouhaveituntilitsgone

Maybe next week, I'll come up with my own type of punctuation!

Week 3: Storytelling- Icarus' Undoing

            Icarus looked out into the distance, watching a red sun set upon the blue water. The horizon seemed so close, so attainable, and yet, so impossibly far away. He had grown up on the island. It was the only thing he'd ever known. His father never told him why they could never leave, just that they couldn't. His heart longed for new and distant places, but his mind knew he would never see that for which his heart longed. Still, he was young, and the hope in his heart would not be diminished so easily. In the midst of his pitiful thoughts, a pair of small birds happened to fly into view. Chirping cheerfully, the birds rode the wind, free of the heavy thoughts that disturbed Icarus' unhappy mind.

            "If only I were a bird! With such wings I could fly from this wretched place. Woe to me that the gods would curse me with legs, chained to this cruel island by such a cruel twist of fate. May the gods grant me wings, that I may escape this prison!"

            Icarus called out to the sea and the sky, knowing that no one was listening to his cries. He was drawn from despair by the call of his father.

            "Icarus! Come quick, my son! I have something to show you. Something that will bring joy to your heart and smile to your lips!"

            Icarus raced home, struggling to contain his excitement. He slowed down as he approached the shop door from which his father had called to him. Drawing a slow breath, he crossed the threshold. What his eyes beheld was nothing short of divine.

            "By the gods," he exclaimed, "what sort of inventions are these, father?"

            "Wings, my son. The hard land and the deep sea are closed to us, but the skies are our freedom. What do you think?"

            Icarus knew his father was skilled, but these wings, of beeswax, reeds and feathers were nothing short of an answered prayer. He fingered them in his excitement. Too forcefully in the eyes of his father.

            "Careful son! Our means of escape are too delicate for such treatment. Now I must tell you, and you must listen, to what I have to say. Let me warn you! Avoid the heavens and the sea, lest your wings be unmade. Take a middle road, my son, and all will be well. Do you understand?"

            Icarus was barely paying attention, so great was his excitement. "Of course, father. You certainly know best."

            Early the next morning, Icarus woke his father eagerly, ready to fly away from the only place he'd ever known. As his father fitted the wings on him, he noticed a nervousness in his father's movements and in his words. So potent was his enthusiasm, that this thought left him quickly.

            "Before leave son, you must remember what I told you yesterday. Follow me!"

            Icarus watched his father flap his wings, and soar like a bird. "Soon I shall be free of my enslavement to this ground," he thought to himself joyfully. Then with a few flaps of his own, he watched the ground drop from beneath him.

            In a matter of minutes, the father and son had left their island beyond the horizon. With the island out of sight and out of mind, the joy rushing in Icarus' veins overcame his father's advise. He longed to touch the sky, so he daringly raced towards the heavens.

            The approaching sun turned his joy into utter horror. The wax was melting! His wings were falling apart! He suddenly felt himself plummeting towards the sea. As the sea rushed to meet him, Icarus longed for his island home, that he had just that morning cursed with his departure.

            "Forgive me father, my freedom was too much for me! I ought to have accepted what the gods had in store for me, and left the flying to the birds! May the world learn from my folly!"

            No one, not even his father, heard his screams. His father, though he searched tirelessly, would not find the son he looked for. And so Daedalus would curse his inventions. What should have brought him so much joy, left him in despair. If only he had never made them, his poor son Icarus would still be by his side.

(The Flight of Icarus, Jacob Peter Gowy)

Author's Note:

I have heard this story of Daedalus and Icarus many times, but I have never heard from the perspective of Icarus. Daedalus invents wings so that he and his son can escape the island of Crete. Icarus flies too close to he sun, and his wings are ruined. So he falls to his death, leaving his father to mourn. It such a tragic story, but I wanted to put myself in Icarus' place. If I had the ability to fly away from the island I was exiled to, I would be impossibly excited. Who can fault this young boy from trying to touch the sky? Sure he should have listened to his father, but who hasn't disobeyed their parents? Poor Icarus pays the ultimate price for his disobedience.

Bibliography:

Daedalus and Icarus

Ovid's Metamorphoses

Translated by Tony Kline

2000

Week 3: Reading Diary- Ovid III

These are my thoughts on the third section of Ovid's Metamorphoses...

Daedalus and Icarus:

This story certainly has a message it is trying to convey: Avoid extremes! I'm sure Daedalus felt absolutely terrible about his son's death, but surely his inventions were not to blame? How often has youth lead to an arrogant rise, followed by a swift fall? It seems that Icarus never learned from Phaethon.

(Daedalus and Icarus)

Philemon and Baucis:

I really like this pair! They choose to accept their lot in life and embrace it. They embrace their poverty with humility and generosity. It seems that a little bit of wealth leads to greed, but no wealth at all leads to happiness. Also, I thought it was interesting that the gods, Jupiter and Mercury (at this point), are content in this meager house.

Transformation of Philemon and Baucis:

This is a great little Greek love story. The poorest house in the neighborhood is spared from divine wrath by its generosity. It seems fitting that Philemon and Baucis, who were content with each other before the the gods' appearance, chose with their request to spend the rest of their lives together.

Ceres and Erysichthon:

This story is completely opposite to the previous one. Erysichthon was completely dismissive of the gods, cutting down Ceres' tree, and I'm sure his arrogance will lead to the suffering of many innocent people. This is how all the other myths have gone at least.

The Famine:

This guy gets a pretty terrible punishment for his crimes. I turn into a diva when I get hungry, so I can't imagine what it would be like to end up eating your own body because of your hunger. Also, I really liked the description of Famine. It was horrible! I am glad that Erysichthon's mistake only caused him harm, not innocents like in earlier stories.

Achelous:

This is a pretty interesting tribute to Hercules' strength. He dominated what appeared to be a bigger man that could shape-shift into a snake and a bull. In all of this though, the woman has absolutely no choice in her husband. Women, even the female gods, are at the mercy of their male counterparts.

The Shirt of Nessus:

Hercules definitely looks like he is on the losing end of this encounter. Sure, he kills the Centaur that would have stolen his bride, but it seems that his poisoned arrows are destined to be his own undoing. This is a pretty cruel twist of fate.

The Death of Hercules:

This sounds like a pretty brutal way to die. The description of the Hydra's poison is disgustingly detailed. Luckily for Hercules though, his father bails him out. The mortal part of him dies, but he is transformed into a god. It worked out for him after all.

(Stories from the Greek Tragedians)

Birth of Hercules:

I have no idea and will never have an idea of what childbirth is like, but it seems that Alcmena had a pretty rough time of it. Seven days is a long time to be in labor. Lucky for her, her hand-maiden Galanthis tricks the goddess of childbirth into allowing the birth to occur. This is a pretty weird origin story for the weasel too.

Orpheus and Eurydice:

This is a pretty tragic love story. I've heard it before, and I still feel like I need to yell at Orpheus not to turn around. He had worked so hard to raise his wife out of Hades, but his love for her drove him to look back, and her fate was sealed.

Ganymede and Hyacinthus:

The gods' lust gets innocent people in trouble over and over again. Jupiter abducts the Phyrgian, Ganymede, after transforming himself into an eagle. Then Hyacinthus is killed in a game of discus with Phoebus. It is terrible for these boys to have earned the love of such powerful gods.

Pygmalion:

Venus seems like a pretty just god in this story. She turn the Propoetides into wild bullocks for killing their guests as sacrifices instead of animals. Then she turns a Pygmalion's statue into a real girl, so that he can marry it. These are some weird stories!

(Pygmalion and the Statue, Regnault)

Myrrha and Cinyras:

This is interesting. In this case, it is a mortal that wants to commit sexual sin, not the gods. When the gods want to rape or sin, they do so without remorse. This girl, however, is torn apart by her desire to be with her father, even though it is incestuous and wrong.

Myrrha and the Nurse:

So instead of succumbing to the incestuous sin, Myrrha attempts to kill herself, only to be stopped by hr nurse. After a lot of questioning, the nurse understands Myrrha's shame, and begs her to be rid of the sinful desires.

Myrrha's Punishment:

So Myrrha tricks her father into sleeping with her during a festival of celibacy. That really sucks for Cinyras! Naturally in a story like this, Myrrha becomes pregnant and is forced to flee. She then prays to be deprived of life and death, so the gods turn her into a tree.

Venus and Adonis:

So the love-child of Myrrha and Cinyras is Adonis, a boy so beautiful that he catches the attention of Venus herself. There has to be some way that this goes horribly, horribly wrong. Probably by bears or lions, judging from Venus' warning.

Atlanta and Hippomenes:

So Venus is telling Adonis this story about a girl, Atlanta, who was beautiful and faster than any man alive. The gods tell her she ought to flee from marriage, so she proposes that any man to beat her in a footrace would win her, but to lose was to forfeit his life. So Hippomenes, descendant of Neptune, challenges her.

The Foot-Race:

With the help of Venus, Hippomenes wins the race and earns Atlanta's hand in marriage. However, he does thank or worship her after receiving her help, so she incites him to desecrate a temple. He and Atlanta are then turned into lions, and that is why Venus tells Adonis to fear lions.

(The Race, by Noel Halle)

The Death of Adonis:

Of course Adonis gets killed by a wild boar, and Venus is distraught. So like in many other stories, she preserves her memory of him in a flower. Also, I like the story-within-a-story-within-a-story concept. It's like inception!